I’ve always liked Spotify Wrapped, but I never thought it would make me long for the unpredictability of the radio.
I’ve never been a big fan of the radio. In fact, I’ve had Spotify Premium for years to avoid listening to commercials and lame jokes to start my day — ironic, given the state of most podcasts. And yet, there’s something about the 2024 edition of Spotify Wrapped that made me — or at least a small part of me — miss the feeling of listening to the radio. It brought back some unpredictability that I’d lost while carefully curating playlist after playlist, and it might have sold me on Spotify’s use of AI. Here’s why.Don’t worry, Wrapped hasn’t (really) changed
Before you panic and think that Spotify has suddenly rebuilt Wrapped from the ground up, fear not. Everything you’re used to is still there, with the songs, artists, and podcasts you binge-listened to presented in the form of vibrant, colorful lists. You can still share any slides from the story-like recap of stats, whether you’re proud of Spotify’s increasingly niche genre names or not.
I’m glad Spotify hasn’t rewritten the basics. I still have a slight sense of competition when it comes to out-listening my friends, and I’m always curious to see who among them is secretly a Swiftie (just kidding, the Swifties are an obvious bunch). I do, however, like that Spotify is finally starting to add to Wrapped, treating it almost like a preview of features that might launch over the coming year. In 2023, that meant the debut of Spotify’s AI-powered DJ and editorial playlists, but this year, it means an all-new way to dive into your Wrapped recap.Spotify’s AI podcast actually makes things kind of fun
Like every suburban white guy with money for a microphone, Spotify decided to start a podcast. Well, it decided to use its existing partnership with Google to leverage Notebook LM into creating an AI-generated podcast about your jams from the year — not quite the same. Rather than rambling about mostly nothing, Spotify’s Wrapped AI Podcast sticks closely to your overall listening habits, sprinkling in a few fun facts about an artist or a song.
In my case, that meant I mostly knew what was coming — after all, I clicked through my Wrapped recap as soon as I woke up, just like a kid on Christmas morning.
